Ravens open preseason against Buccaneers, play prime-time game vs. Panthers

Between now and April's NFL draft, Baltimore Sun blogger and reporter Matt Vensel will periodically publish NFL mock drafts, which he will mostly base off team needs, offseason roster moves and media speculation. The first round of the NFL draft is Thursday night, so this will be his final mock of the spring.

Jeff Zrebiec, The Baltimore Sun

The Ravens 2013 preseason schedule is highlighted by a prime-time home game against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday, Aug. 22 at M&T Bank Stadium, the NFL announced today.

That game, which will be the third of four preseason games for the Super Bowl XLVII champions, will start at 8 p.m. and be televised by ESPN.

The Ravens will open up the preseason against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. The exact date and time of the game has yet to be announced. In Week Two of the preseason, the Ravens will host the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday, Aug. 15 at M&T Bank Stadium.

Their third preseason game – and the one starters typically play the most in – is the prime-time matchup versus the Panthers. Then the Ravens will close the preseason for a second straight season against the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome on Thursday, Aug. 29.

Tampa Bay and the Ravens have never played in the preseason, but the Ravens’ other three opponents will be familiar matchups. The Ravens are 6-3 all-time in preseason games against the Falcons. They are 4-1 against the Panthers and winless in three preseason matchups against the Rams.

Under coach John Harbaugh, the Ravens are 13-7 in the preseason. They are 40-27 all-time in preseason play.

The NFL is expected to release its schedule for the regular season on April 16. Despite winning the Super Bowl, the Ravens will begin defense of their title on the road after they couldn’t work out a scheduling conflict with the Orioles on Sept. 5, the night the NFL had bookmarked for the annual kickoff game.